Ai-yah! The Ming Pao, a leading Chinese-language newspaper, did a super cute feature on Cutie Food. The article includes two of my recipes from my cookbook Cute Yummy Time (brown rice penguin onigiri and panda tofu soba). My round-faced cat Basil Farrow makes an appearance too!

Below is a scan (click to enlarge) and translation. Funny: they translated my name, La Carmina, as 田中裕美 (Yumi Tanaka) — I wonder why! And Basil is called a 摺 耳 貓 (jip yee mao) — fold-eared cat! Cute Yummy Time is now available for pre-order here and will be found in all major bookstores after October 6.

Local primary students are limited to eating sandwiches and pizza in the cafeteria, so they might as well take a box lunch to school. Don’t think this is an old school thing to do. In Japan, bento culture is not just about the food, but the picture. Hello Kitty, Snoopy, and other Japanese anime characters can all be made into a cute bento box lunch. This trend has spread to Vancouver, and local people are making their own bentos. There’s even a recipe book — Cute Yummy Time can encourage your mom to express her creativity. It’s written by author La Carmina.

Our lovely bento teacher who doesn’t want to be a lawyer
Local lady La Carmina graduated from Yale Law School but didn’t want to be a lawyer because she loves to design and write. Lately, she is focusing on making cute bento boxes, in addition to freelance writing and blogging. She loved cute culture since she was young, and has been designing cute bentos for the past two years. Carmina designs them in different character styles, but they all look cute and use healthy ingredients. Her new book, Cute Yummy Time, introduces 70 cute food recipes that she made herself. You can buy it in all major bookstores on October 6th, or online through her blog, http://www.lacarmina.com/blog

This might be a totally weird question, but where did you meet all your awesome alternative friends??? I wish I had somebody like that to share my interests with, instead of always being odd one out with all the indie rock kids of Sweden. Going to goth clubs ALONE seems intimidating too. Any advice? Sorry about the ODD question! xD

– And congrats about all the publicity! Cute food is truly amazing, I certainly wouldn't mind eating panda tofu or penguin onigiri… ^3^ I love how the Chinese translate… I think Mike Tyson translates to something like “quiet forest” because the pronounciation sounds the same – but I just read that somewhere, I know nothing about Chinese!

This might be a totally weird question, but where did you meet all your awesome alternative friends??? I wish I had somebody like that to share my interests with, instead of always being odd one out with all the indie rock kids of Sweden. Going to goth clubs ALONE seems intimidating too. Any advice? Sorry about the ODD question! xD

– And congrats about all the publicity! Cute food is truly amazing, I certainly wouldn’t mind eating panda tofu or penguin onigiri… ^3^ I love how the Chinese translate… I think Mike Tyson translates to something like “quiet forest” because the pronounciation sounds the same – but I just read that somewhere, I know nothing about Chinese!

I met a lot of fantastic people through my site. I think people get a sense of my interests and personality, and that makes it easier to make the initial connection (which is really all it takes).

Before 2007 (pre-blog years), I met a lot of people through clubs, or mutual friends… social networks made it easier to suss out whether you had things in common.

I know this is a cliche, but I found that one’s own state of mind and attitude made the biggest difference. I wasn’t as secure in my self a few years ago, so I didn’t attract the best people to me. Now I feel I’m in a good place and things are rolling! ;)

I met a lot of fantastic people through my site. I think people get a sense of my interests and personality, and that makes it easier to make the initial connection (which is really all it takes).

Before 2007 (pre-blog years), I met a lot of people through clubs, or mutual friends… social networks made it easier to suss out whether you had things in common.

I know this is a cliche, but I found that one's own state of mind and attitude made the biggest difference. I wasn't as secure in my self a few years ago, so I didn't attract the best people to me. Now I feel I'm in a good place and things are rolling! ;)

I met a lot of fantastic people through my site. I think people get a sense of my interests and personality, and that makes it easier to make the initial connection (which is really all it takes).

Before 2007 (pre-blog years), I met a lot of people through clubs, or mutual friends… social networks made it easier to suss out whether you had things in common.

I know this is a cliche, but I found that one's own state of mind and attitude made the biggest difference. I wasn't as secure in my self a few years ago, so I didn't attract the best people to me. Now I feel I'm in a good place and things are rolling! ;)

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